An introduction to creative cities, Judith Ryser
An Introduction to Creative Cities
‘Creative cities’ are the drivers of the twenty-first century economy and their physical fabric is a major contributor to their success in global competition, according to acquired wisdom. Yet how true is this hypothesis and how new? In order to discover this, the authors presented here give a range of approaches as to how spaces can accommodate and foster ‘creative activities’. Charles Landry sets the ‘culture-led’ scene with his concepts of what makes a city ‘creative’, explored in his latest book The Art of City Making (see p.41).
Spatial characteristics conducive to the ‘creative economy’ are not new. Clusters of knowledge sharing, specialisation and global dissemination form part of western civilisation, popularised in novels such as Umberto Eco’s Foucault’s Pendulum and recently The Da Vinci Code. Monks were creating and sharing knowledge centuries ago, and universities confirm that influence on the ‘knowledge industry’ today. They formed part of a worldwide diaspora with which they shared knowledge at the forefront of both science and the arts – perhaps the precursors of today’s knowledge clusters and knowledge networks? Their spaces suited their creative activities - ivory towers in which they carried out their intellectual and artistic activities. This is reflected in the design of university campuses and was adopted for the early science parks in the countryside, like Sophia Antipolis. They include both ‘cells’, favoured by academics in today’s individualistic world, and places of exchange - today’s lecture halls and convention centres. However, a one-size-fits-all approach to science and techno-parks is no longer acceptable and many innovative places are being established in regenerated inner city and industrial areas.
Conventional university spaces are increasingly being substituted with cyberspace communication, keeping students away from their teachers. Yet, this does not replace places for face-to-face decision-making and interaction. Nor is it possible to dispense with the public realm, where chance encounters are essential to stimulate creativity, especially when according to French sociologist Jean Viard, formal work time takes up less than ten percent of our lifespan. The demands for contemporary spaces for both creative reflection and interaction are challenges for designers. Spaces under 24 hour surveillance may not stimulate human imagination, thwarting creative abilities. The most creative people often chose to ‘do their own thing’ in their garages - the starting point of Silicon Valley’s creative spaces and clusters. Their success was dependant upon the protagonists harnessing the uniqueness of their setting for creative activities.
The ‘components of excellence’ characterising the creative potential of cities were identified by the ProyectoCITIES methodology, developed by the Fundacion Metropoli, as a basis of city-specific development strategies. This forms part of Alfonso Vegara’s ‘conception-led’ philosophy expressed in his approach to project design.
New spaces have emerged to suit the changing demands of the creative society - or the creative classes according to Richard Florida, a notion not shared universally as Andy Pratt’s critique of ‘creative cities’ points out. The globalising world does not stand still, and what was successful one day can be history tomorrow. Nevertheless, everybody seems to be competing for ‘creative industries’ with the same marketing ploys, without taking into account the ‘archaeology of spatial memory’, a powerful tool to distinguish long-range permanence rooted in local assets from ephemeral fashions.
While globalisation tends to encourage uniformity, successful spaces for creative activities are often driven by the visions of leaders with intimate knowledge of the assets and specificities of their cities, a determination which transpires in the policy-led article of the Mayor of Antwerp, Patrick Janssen. His idea is for a ‘trialogue’ between his strategic vision, an innovative multiple partnership policy for large ‘urban projects’, and action from the ‘bottom up’, involving the local population in shaping their public realm. Robinson’s story of the transformation of Warwick Junction, Durban, starts from the bottom up and demanded sensitive strategic thinking.
At the opposite scale, the Ecobox, described by Maria Tena provides a sustainably designed place, capable of stimulating creative activities in the midst of a ubiquitous, left-over area, colonised by back offices, multiplex cinemas and lots of car parking. Ecobox shows that imaginative design and an attention to detail do not require perfect, high quality surroundings. Similarly, the spectacular design of Federation Square, published in UD98, relies on creative management to preserve its pull after the initial wow factor waned. Kate Brennan starts where the designers finish, by managing and maintaining this public realm, a task which demands continuous reinvention and creative action.
Increasingly, the tasks between initiating regeneration, inventing purpose-designed agencies and creating synergy between existing and new activities are being blurred. The participatory transformation of Arabianranta, a traditional industrial area presented by Mervi Ilmonen is a case in point. These regeneration projects, kick-started by chance and pursued by outsiders and locals, resort to high performance ICT infrastructure to provide universal tools of interactive communication. Some, like the Digital Mile in Zaragoza, described by Juan Pradas are focusing entirely on the e-world. There is a quantum leap though from playing with gadgets in a lab to putting them to the rough test of real life. Other approaches to producing spaces designed to stimulate citizens into creative activities are driven by artists like those behind Ars Electronica and who continue to keep their local ties despite their long-standing international success. Robert Huxford’s ‘nature-led’ piece on liquid assets shows the way to resuscitate essential landscape resources like water into integrated design.
The aim of this topic on ‘creative cities’ is to demonstrate how many considerations enter into conceiving, designing, realising, maintaining and reinventing places for creative activities; as well as to stimulate a debate on what urban design can contribute towards this process.
Judith Ryser
